Recent News

Princeton undergraduate students will be able to major in African American studies starting in the fall. The University's Board of Trustees approved the new concentration Monday, June 1, and gave the Center for African American Studies academic department status. The changes, which the faculty had approved in May, will take effect July 1.

Read an interview with Nell Irvin Painter, Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita, returning to Princeton University in Fall 2015 to teach an undergraduate course called "Art School at African American Studies." Dr. Painter's course will uniquely combine the process of making art, along with the critique and study of art.

On Thursday, December 4th, Princeton University students, faculty and staff walked out of class and joined in a protest in solidarity with movements across the country and world for black lives, and against racism and unjust systems. Follow the link for a moving video of the day's events.

Dr. Naomi Murakawa, associate professor of African American Studies, publishes her first book, The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America. The book is an analysis of the roots of the conflicts that lie at the intersection of race and the legal system in America.

Mark Johnson '95, a strong supporter of the Center for African American Studies, goes out on his own to launch a new technology and communications firm - Astra Capital Management. Derived from the latin phrase, “per astera ad astra,” the spirit of his new venture can be described as, “the harder you work, the higher you go.”